A notebook is for life, not just for Christmas: the OutdoorCureOnline Guide to getting the most from your notebook.

A notebook is for life, not just for Christmas: the OutdoorCureOnline Guide to getting the most from your notebook.

Last year something unusual happened at OutdoorCure HQ. We put in place a ‘new notebook ban’ until the backlog of accumulated notebooks had somewhat decreased. It was a lot harder than anticipated. Some of these notebooks were gifts, some were passed to us from others who didn’t use them as much, but the majority were ones purchased by a member of the OutdoorCure team who had gravitated to them while shopping and stood clutching them revelling in the sense of purpose and hope that they offered. Yes – we really are that into our notebooks! This blog is one we feel will divide our readers. Half will understand and perhaps read this clutching their own favourite notebook to their chest with love. The rest will be shaking their heads in disbelief wondering how on earth we derive so much pleasure from a new notebook. Well, read on disbelievers, read on…

7 ways to use a notebook to improve your wellbeing:

Get organised. Get your to-do lists at the ready and your shopping lists scribbled down. Break down your to-do lists into sections – what is your priority? How can you best use your time?

Put together a scrapbook – it could just be over a period of time, it could be for a specific event or occasion. Scrapbooking is a gorgeous way to visually capture memories and look back over them. You can do it for yourself or as a gift for a family member, friend or partner.

Set yourself some goals. Write them down to give yourself a sense of direction. Have a dedicated goals notebook so they don’t get lost amongst other things and regularly review them. How will you know when you have achieved that goal? What do you need to do to get there?

Journaling – a notebook can be a space for you to record your thoughts and feelings on a daily or weekly basis. Whatever works best for you. Journaling can be hard to get into at first and you may find you are staring at a blank page wondering what to write. Why not ask some specific questions as a starting point. Things like – what went well today? What challenged you today and what did you learn from it?

Get planning. You might have a trip you want to take, a birthday to organise or event to plan. Writing it down helps you to focus your ideas about what you want to do. You can then break this down into steps you need to take to make it happen.

Keep a record of your achievements and accomplishments. The ones you are proud of, no matter how small. We often forget to acknowledge them, or forget what we have actually achieved. Keeping a record of them over a period of time means you can look back over your journey with ease and give yourself an internal well-done smile.

Keep a creative notebook – this is a side of us we forget to nurture once we get to adulthood – usually because we tell ourselves that we’re not very good at it. Use your notebook as a space to be creatively free. Write like nobody’s reading, draw like nobody’s looking, pool your ideas, doodle, use stickers, be silly, be colourful and express.

Hmmmm…. Now we’ve written this list we might need a new notebook or several!!!